SAVE THE DATE
For those who operate, animate and steward public spaces, discussions around safety are contextualized by a range of factors. Where is the space located? What communities have ties to it? And perhaps most importantly, how is the space governed? No longer are public spaces only managed by local governments. Instead, models for governance now span a much larger spectrum. As the pandemic forces us to reassess our relationships to public space, it is clear that practitioners have valuable knowledge in how to navigate this opportunity for reflection.
The Bentway’s second talk will focus on the ways in which stewardship and governance impact experiences of safety. Participants will showcase a diverse set of public spaces and governance models in “case studies” that explain their approaches to participatory planning, community investment, resource allocation and representation. They will address the difficulty in balancing principles and practices with real-world and real-time challenges. The talk will shed light on the management process and how equitable commitments shape both long-term strategic direction and daily decision-making.
PANELISTS: Jane Hall (Assemble Studio), Darnel Harris (Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust), Amowi Philips (Mmofra Foundation) and Romel Pascual (CicLAvia).
MODERATOR: David Carey (The Bentway)
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Jane Hall - Assemble Studio (United Kingdom)
Dr. Jane Hall is the inaugural recipient of the British Council Lina Bo Bardi Fellowship (2013) and founding member of the London architecture collective Assemble, who won the Turner Prize in 2015 for their collaboration with residents of Granby Four Streets in Liverpool, UK. Jane completed a PhD at the Royal College of Art (2018), where her research looked at the legacy of modernist architects working in both Brazil and the UK. Her particular focus is on interdisciplinary practice between artists and architects, and the emergence of alternative methods for architectural design. Jane is also the author of the book ‘Breaking Ground, Architecture by Women’ (Phaidon, 2019).
Darnel Harris - Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust (Canada)
Darnel Harris, MES is the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust's Operations Manager. Darnel handles the Land Trust's operations planning, governance and strategic engagement, membership development and programming files. An urban planner with a specialty in Community Engagement and Sustainability Education, Darnel has been recognized by Canadian Urban Institute and the German Government for his commitment to sustainability, equity and equal opportunity for under resourced communities.
Amowi Philips - Mmofra Foundation (Ghana)
Alongside professions in law and higher education, Amowi works in civil society as a board member and international coordinator of the Ghana-based CSO Mmofra Foundation, leading many of its child-centered initiatives in play, culture and green space concepts for African contexts. An advocate for accessible public cultural spaces in urban Africa, she is on the World Urban Parks Committee on Children, Play and Nature, and directs the stewardship of Mmofra Place Park, a pioneering pilot concept in versatile children’s parks in Accra, Ghana. In sharing her practice and experience Amowi contributes to the global placemaking movement from an under-represented African perspective.
Romel Pascual - CicLAvia (United States of America)
Romel Pascual is the Executive Director of CicLAvia, a Los Angeles based non-profit organization that focuses on sustainability, alternative transportation, and community connectedness through CicLAvia events in the LA region, which have grown into the largest open street event in the United States.
For more than 20 years, Romel has been involved in environmental, sustainability, energy, and social justice issues at the federal, state, local and community levels. As the former Deputy Mayor of Energy, Environment and Sustainability of Los Angeles in the Villaraigosa administration, he was responsible for developing and implementing the Mayor’s environmental and energy agenda. Under his tenure, Romel led the community benefits agreement for the Space Shuttle Endeavor; was the Mayor’s point on the Port’s “TraPac MOU”; oversaw the city’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program; and helped spearhead “CicLAvia”. Prior to coming to the Mayor’s office, Romel served as California’s first Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice from 2000-2004.
Romel holds a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA, and Masters in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley. Romel served on a number of boards, including serving on the Board of Directors of the LA2028 Olympic Committee, the Advisory Board of UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation, and the Executive Committee of the C40 Cities.